Joshua Longbrake

Every morning I wake up, get out of bed, walk to the kitchen, heat water, pour heated water through roasted cherry seeds, and drink the flavored water. It’s a bizarre ritual and I wonder if the future people will look back on us with bewilderment. Regardless, I’ve dialed in a very specific way to do this, insuring a consistent, pleasing result.

Tools

Capresso Infinity Conical Burr Grinder
Hario V60 Ceramic Dripper
Hario #2 Paper Filters
Hario V60 Range Server (optional, but nice for making 16-24oz at a time)
Hario Buono Stovetop Kettle
AWS SC-2kg scale

Process

1. Bring filtered water (tap water, depending on how far you live from your city’s water source and filtration plant, will taste of minerals) to a boil (212º) and preheat mug or range server.

2. Wash the paper filter in the V60 with the hot water (an unwashed paper filter leaves a slight paper residue taste in the coffee)

3. Weigh out whole beans on your scale before you grind
20g of beans for an 8oz cup
28g for a 12oz cup
38g for a 16oz cup
53g for 24oz

4. Grind the beans. On my Capresso the grind setting for a V60 is a 7. Grind settings differ with each grinder.

5. Dump out the water from the preheated mug, place the V60 with wet paper filter on top of the mug, add the grinds, put all of it on the scale, and tare out the scale.

6. You don’t want to use boiling water for the brew, as it can scold the grinds. If you want to get very precise, use a thermometer and pour water when it is between 195º and 200º. If you don’t want to use a thermometer, let the water sit for 20 seconds or so, which should drop the temperature about 5 degrees. A thermometer is very handy for precision. A developed palette can taste it if the water is too hot. If you want to punch me in the throat for talking about having a developed palette, I understand.

7. It’s bloom time. Blooming is simply adding an initial, small amount of water to the grinds, letting gas escape before the primary pour. I like to yell out “It’s bloom time, motherf*****s! (motherforests!)
For 20g-28g of coffee = add 50g of water for the bloom (measuring water weight on the scale, not volume, thus it’s in grams, not ounces) for 60 seconds
38g = 70g water weight for 60 seconds
53g = 100g for 60 secs

8. Brew - after the bloom, pour evenly in a small, clockwise motion at the center of the grounds.
20g of coffee for an 8oz cup = 295g of water weight (total, including the bloom)
28g for a 12oz cup = 415g water weight
38g for a 16oz cup = 530g water weight
53g for 24oz of coffee = 800g water weight

The nice thing about pouring while measuring water weight is that you never have to worry about over extracting the coffee or over pouring your cup. It’s the perfect amount of water for the amount of coffee, every time.

Another option is to toss a few spoonfuls of Folders into a Mr. Coffee brewer, hit the switch, wait a few minutes, and drink away. Much, much easier, and convenience is a wonderful thing.

Hell would be to know, continuously, every act of violence that happens around the earth, every second of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year. Torturous. How much more excruciatingly difficult would life be if I knew everything? Omniscience is hell.

And so I wonder, does God also preside in hell? I do not know.